Daniel Deronda

By: George Eliot

Narrated by: Nadia May

One of the masterpieces of English fiction, Daniel Deronda tells the intertwined stories of two characters as they each come to discover the truth of their natures.

Gwendolen Harleth is the beautiful, high-spirited daughter of an impoverished upper-class family. In order to restore their fortunes, she unwittingly traps herself in an oppressive marriage. Humbled, she turns for solace and guidance to Daniel Deronda, the high-minded adopted son of an aristocratic Englishman. But when Deronda, who is searching for his path in life, rescues a poor Jewish girl from drowning, he discovers a world of Jewish experience previously unknown to him, and to the Victorian novel. Dismayed by the anti-Semitism around him, the tragedy of the lovely Gwendolen begins to fade for Deronda. When he finally uncovers the long-hidden secret of his own parentage, he must confront his true identity and destiny.

(P)1997 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"Nadia May meets the strenuous demands of Eliot's narration with easy assurance." (Library Journal)
"Daniel Deronda is a startling and unexpected novel....It is a cosmic myth, a world history, and a morality play." (A.S. Byatt)

How did George Eliot know so much?

Daniel Deronda is the eponymous character but he shares the main focus of the novel with Gwendolyn Harleth, a young woman who falls from egoistic selfishness into a rollercoaster of unfortunate events.Their lives entangle but their relationship is not what you might expect. The novel is filled with wisdom that George Eliot presumably found in her extensive reading but she must have lived as well. She must have experienced so much in order to understand humans in their various economic, religious and moral dilemmas. The performance rattles along terribly quickly which is sometimes a bit bumpy but mostly entirely great storytelling. I wanted it to keep going.

Audible Fail

The speed continuously changed and the story skipped around. I went for my usual 90-minute walk with 11 hours left. By the time I returned home, the book was at the end. Some chapters repeated more than once.

AMAZING! MOVING,EVERY MINUTE A DELIGHT!

Where does Daniel Deronda rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

ONE OF THE BEST AUDIO-BOOKS I HAVE HEARD SO FAR.THE STORY IS SO PERTINENT TO OUR DAYS IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT IT WAS WRITTEN NEARLY 150 YEARS AGO.

THAT'S THE MAKING OF A TRUE CLASSIC.

THE STORY -NO SPOILER HERE- TELLS OF TIMES WHEN PEOPLE STILL HELD HUMANISTIC VALUES AND IDEALS.

IT IS,THE EPIC ROMANCE APART,A STRONG MANIFESTO AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM,MASTERFULLY WRITTEN.AGAIN,ADDRESSING ISSUES AS PERTINENT TO OUR DAYS AS THEY WERE IN1860,IN 1930 AND,PERHAPS WILL BE ETERNALLY.

THE CHARACTERS ARE BEAUTIFULLY DESCRIBED,WITH HEART-WRENCING DEPTH,INSIGHT AND ABOVE ALL,HUMANITY.
THE STORY-LINE IS FASCINATING,NEVER A DULL MOMENT.I COULDN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT DEVELOPMENT IN THE STORY,ALWAYS SURPRISING,NE'ER A CLICHEE.
I
WANT TO COMPLIMENT THE NARRATOR,NADIA MAY.
SHE IS EXCELLENT .FABULOUS DICTION,SUPERLATIVE ABILITY TO TAKE ON THE VOICES OF THE NUMEROUS CHARACTERS IN A CLEAR,COMPREHENSIBLE AND DIVERSIFIED MANNER.
LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE GEORGE ELIOT

Nadia May reading is superb

After reading/listening to Middlemarch and Adam Bede, I embarked on the 4 volume Deronda. I was happy that I enlisted Nadia May whose spectacular voice rendition of charcters pulled me through all 4 volumes. I enjoyed it all and was particularly captivated by the ugly experience of British prejudice so prevalent in cultured British society. The love story as with all George Eliot's books was tender and romantic.

Lovely

What an amazing story. The reading was very good. This may be my new favorite.